Originally Posted by
NinerKilo
PATCO controllers were federal employees and legally couldn't strike, that's why they were fired.
What some posters on here have mentioned is a Suspension of Service, which is basically a nationwide strike by airline pilots. ALPA organized and executed an SOS back in the 1970's due to a lack of action dealing with the new threat of hijacking. The only problem was that not every airline's pilots followed the SOS so all that really happened was a weak show of solidarity on ALPA's part on the issue.
There's a court precedent that makes an SOS legal when it's an issue of national policy that's the primary reason, not when it's over collective bargaining.
I think ALPA authorized an SOS in response to the possibility of the CVR being used in a punitive manner back in the 1980s.
A nationwide SOS isn't unprecedented, it just takes a major national issue to bring about its authorization. Whether it gets enacted is another matter.
I have very little doubt that if Clowngress passes this, ALPA will authorize another SOS - and more pilots would be on board this time. I think (and I would hope) that this garbage would cause an uproar within the industry.
I'm getting sick of these people pretending to know things...just say, "You know what, screw it, you fly the damn airplane, Congressman. Let me know when you hit the ground..err, I mean land."